ITF World Tennis Tour Player of the Month: Jaqueline Cristian
Jaqueline Cristian has been named ITF World Tennis Tour Player of the Month after bookending March with titles at W60 and W25 tournaments during an undefeated run.
The 24-year-old Romanian began March with the second-biggest title of her career at W60 Trnava and ended it with her first title on clay in four years at W25 Palmanova in an impressive 10-match winning streak.
Cristian’s fine month marked a turning point following a challenging 2022 campaign in which she missed six months of the season after injuring her knee in excruciating fashion at the WTA Doha event 14 months ago.
Having slipped as low as No. 266 in the WTA rankings this February, Cristian pitched up in Slovakia for the W60 Trnava event with a point to prove – and she duly delivered.
Cristian defeated three former top 50 players – including Clara Tauson and Tamara Zidansek, the former world No. 33 and No. 22, respectively, in three set battles, before taking out former world No. 46 Oceane Dodin in the final for her first W60 title.
The triumph was all-the-more impressive given that Dodin has been in supreme form on the ITF World Tennis Tour this year, leading the field for both titles (3) and match-wins (26).
Cristian backed up that performance with victory on her very next outing – claiming her 13th ITF singles crown and fifth on clay after seeing off Iryna Shymanovich in the title match at W25 Palmanova.
It was the first time she had won multiple tournaments in the same month since she collected three $10k Sharm El Sheikh titles on the spin in June 2016.
Cristian, who reached a high of No. 58 in the world in January 2022 shortly after making her Grand Slam debut (and reaching the second round) at the Australian Open, has high hopes of a return to her former heights after her injury-affected 2022 campaign.
"We are working still day by day on improvements, because there is a lot of room for improvements," she said in early March. "But of course this is a very good start for me – especially because I’m coming back from injury – I’m really enjoying the process, and I’m happy that I feel I’m on the right way.
"Next, I really wish that I’m going to [stay] healthy. I’m going to try and play bigger tournaments also. But… [I'll take it] day by day."
Next up for Cristian is a place in Romania’s Billie Jean King Cup squad for their Qualifier clash with Slovenia in Koper on 14-15 April.
Cristian’s compelling March on the ITF World Tennis Tour
- Compiled a 10-0 win-loss record
- Went 20-4 in sets
- Defeated three top 130-ranked players
- Achieved three bagels (6-0 sets)
- Climbed 90 spots in the WTA rankings to No. 176